Game Notes & Preview: Providence (3-2) vs Iona (2-2) 11/24/18

Where: Dunkin’ Donuts Center – Providence, RI

When: 4:00pm EST

How: FSN (Dave Sims & Dickey Simpkins)/Fox Sports GO (where available)/WPRO 99.7 FM & 630AM, TuneIn and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV

Game Notes

  • Providence and Iona will meet for the 5th time ever on Saturday. The Gaels hold the advantage in the all-time series, 3-1. The most recent meeting was in December 2009.
  • Providence is 55-2 in non-conference games at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center under Ed Cooley.
  • Iona is 2-2 this season with wins over Albany and Hartford and losses to New Mexico and Long Beach State. The Gaels are coming off a 20-14 season that ended with a loss to Duke as a 15-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Tim Cluess is in his 9th season at the helm of the Iona program.
  • Ed Cooley is currently tied with Al McClellan in 4th place on the all-time wins list for Providence head coaches at 147. Cooley’s record is 147-96 as the Friar head coach.
  • Providence was picked 3rd in the preseason Big East Coaches’ Poll. Junior Alpha Diallo was named to the Preseason First Team All-Big East and David Duke was Preseason co-Freshman of the Year with Villanova’s Jahvon Quinerly.
  • Providence announced the signing of 2019 commit Greg Gantt on November 16th. Gantt, a native of North Carolina, is currently the only committed player for Providence next season.
  • The Friars lost to 18th-ranked Michigan, 66-47, in the championship of the 2018 Air Force Reserve Tip Off.
  • Opening Line: Providence -11 vs Iona 11/24/18

Game Preview

Providence and Iona will meet for the 5th time ever on Saturday afternoon at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The Friars are coming off a loss at the hands of Michigan on Sunday in the championship of the 2018 Air Force Reserve Tip Off at Mohegan Sun and the Gaels are coming off a neutral court win over Hartford in the consolation game of the MGM Resorts Main Event tournament in Las Vegas.

Iona had a tumultuous offseason with transfers, injuries and, a few weeks before the season tipped off, the dismissal of preseason All-MAAC Second Team selection Roland Griffin. Griffin punched assistant coach Ricky Johns, sending Johns to the hospital. Head coach Tim Cluess also lost his top recruiting assistant, Jared Grasso, who was hired away to be the head coach at Bryant after last season.

Providence continues to struggle to figure out their rotation and that, along with leaning heavily on freshmen, has caused some offensive droughts that have put the young team in a hole in most of their games. They can sometimes flip the switch and recover, but that was not a winning recipe against Michigan’s stingy defense last time out.

The probable starters according to the game notes are:

Providence
Iona

The keys to victory for Providence are avoiding offensive slumps and keeping Iona off the free throw line. The Friars have struggled to find consistent offense for 40 minutes this season and Iona has the firepower to make them pay if Providence should go several minutes without scoring against the Gaels. On the other side, Iona is one of the worst teams in the country at defending the 3-point line, so Providence seeing a few shots go in from downtown early might lift their offensive confidence. The Gaels are also adept at getting to the free throw line. When they aren’t taking shots from long range, Iona is attacking the paint and looking to get to the foul line where they are getting 25.0% of their scoring from through 4 games. That’s the 31st highest percentage of points from the charity stripe in the country, per Kenpom.com.

Prediction: Providence 80 Iona 72

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